Opinion: The President’s Next Campaign

Political Diary Editor Jason Riley on President Obama’s Labor Day speech and the lead up to the November elections.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

... the ... most of the poses and took him out into ... the gum ... will Morganville is given ... and ... the Republicans who run our Congress ... I'll close almost all of them ... rude ... I ... is present Obama campaign trail course eat and run for president anymore but the very active and congratulations to Jason Riley our political diary editor obviously this of ... this fall the big enchilada is the center the Strine new Won't Tell Democrats maintain control there ... as you look at the SA Labor Day speech and with the government employees in the background I'm not sure that's ... exactly the most inclusive of a message to send out but ... but in any case a this is ... this is pretty harsh rhetoric to basically character as the Republicans as ... not wanting to help people because it would ... hurt them politically ... well this is what he's been saying for the past years so nothing's really changed I'm ... you know the real problem the Democrats have is that the party's leader the present to various liability on the campaign trail because of his own ... on approval rating being soloists down around forty percent and that is the best indicator typically ... of how the presence of parties and they do in a midterm election so they're in real trouble ... Obama can still raise a lot of money for them when he was out on the campaign trail ... aam you know he does more harm than good I think and there he was insisting he get the speech ... in Wisconsin State the one Constable tracks seven eight points ... yet the Democratic of of of the Democratic candidate for governor in that state Mary Burke ... did not want to appear with them ... at this rally ... yesterday that tells you something it's a very close race for he might ... have been able make a difference if she thought he could help in a blue state right then you're saying that in a lot of these of these red state suspect outs ... were the Senate the Democrats running for re-election in their ... defining different ways to kind of a distance themselves from the president or or not address certain topics not ... on the Republican side we are discussing this this morning so what should the strategy you think they can make this simply a ... referendum on the president or or is there more of a IIa out an obligation to say here's an agenda ... I think they should and I mean one thing the president is doing is being very specific we saw in the speech after I won the minimum wage hike I won equal pay for women I want affordable health care ... now now he does the leaves out the part about his party controlling the Senate and the inability to get that grew up on the Senate that his party controls but he is at least for something in stating that specifically I think Republicans would be wise ... to push back with specifics about what they wanted to ... on taxes on on immigration and what have you I think that would serve them well ... I would think that growth economics message might be of just the ticket here now up one more thing on that on his agenda he mention a bunch of things he's talking about that a simple very well ... he also does not infrastructure and I wonder given that she is ... currently blocking the country's most famous infrastructure project the Keystone pipeline is this a winner or or is it is it good politics for him because he's ... he's speaking directly to our union construction workers who might've been not ... the way that ticked off by Keystone than the ones that give them something else will he he clearly thinks that taking up the unions is worth it to appease the Greens which is another part of his things right and bring people up I think it's an opening for Republicans an issue that they ... can run on energy security in the US so to speak I think that does resonate with the American people and it'll bring along but to drop out ... okay that we've got ... Congress in session for ... about ... two weeks starting next week ... I think we're probably didn't hear alot about corporate inversions maybe a vote on that ... now is to say is this a big winner for Democrats to is seeing or in May maybe this is part of the reason Republicans media ... account her story to talk about what what are you expecting here in terms of how it plays out like ... the inversion stop listen to the class warfare or that the Democrats drag it out ... every election cycle they think it's a big winner I don't think ... that is typically been when I don't think that ... Americans' view corporations is evil ... aam I don't think the new wealthy people is evil ... oh we're very aspirational group of people in America and so I don't think it ... ultimately play a slow but it shows you they have nothing else to run and here are the Democrats that is and I think